V Australia safety video

[Raymond Rowe]

Originally Posted by Marty H

Noticed on board VOZ in the toilet doors there are ash trays, then no smoking signs above them, thats a tad strange that Boeing are even fitting ash trays at all when its a Australian government regulation that smoking is banned on aircraft.

They are now GUM trays.Instead of the gum under your seat.

[Owen H]

I don't know how many you can still smoke on, but when the 777 was designed there were potential customers for aircraft that have smoking on them. Saudi for example you could still smoke at least in 2000.

Boeing could remove them. But they would have to go through the process of removing the requirement to have them, and it would be simply not worth it for the sake of a couple of dollars for an ashtray.

[Jason Le]

Will the V Australia crew provide a demonstration along with the video like Qantas crew do?

I note that they point out the exits so may be thats all they will do? (Similar to the Cathay Pacific demonstration)

The floor lighting comment seems very valid to me. How do I know when I've reached an exit? The rest seems fine.

[Andrew P]

On this topic, QF has changed their safety video, at least on the MNL-SYD run.

It used to be done in English in full then a Filipina crew member would read it out in Tagalog.

Now it is all done in one video switching from English to Tagalog, at each section

When the English is played, the video is off humans showing what to do, whist in Tagalog the video is off cartoon characters.

Effective, otherwise would need to show the same bit of film twice

Also at the end, an additional screen where they DVT is talked about again in both languages

Banjo

Ps flight was 100% full

[Philip Argy]

I think it is a bit long, but I don't see any harm in the RB appearances, nor in the humour (especially like the quip about checking that your hair is OK).

I haven't previously heard of a brace position that requires you to cross your wrists - is that for real or a piece of humour that has escaped me?

[Mark Howarth]

G'day Philip,

Real.

Mark

[Robert S]

Originally Posted by Liam C

I do not like the safety demo at all. I am all for an attention grabbing original and creative introduction of the crew members prior to starting it (if you do this well, you have a captive audience - something I always did). During the safety demo, it HAS to be clear, concise and STRAIGHT TO THE POINT. Emphasis on key points using a change in tone, a slow clear voice, and a serious tone.

They have made the mistake of making a very serious presentation VERY casual, both visually and verbally.

I can't help feeling that this is just a slice of the QF vs DJ debate in a nutshell. Many diehard QF fans generally dislike DJ's relaxed approach (using passenger first names, light hearted announcements, etc) which is often something the diehard DJ fans particularly like, finding QF's approach too stuffy, formal and inpersonal.

Obviously I am someone who vastly prefers to fly DJ, but my personal observation is that on QF - as with any other airline with dry safety briefings - virtually no-one listens or pays any attention. There will always be that small subset of people (such as most board members naturally ) who will always listen no matter what but the remainder don't stop chatting to their mates or look up from their reading materials. They've heard it and just treat it as "meh". I'd venture to suggest that those who do listen are probably the people who need it least, so personally I'd rate the end result as nearly useless.

By contrast DJ typically injects a little variety into theirs and by far the best briefing I've ever heard was on a DJ flight out of MEL several years back which was absolutely hilarious from start to finish. The thing that was most remarkable about this is it had a completely focussed audience which stopped talking/reading and listened. At the end of it, it got a well deserved round of applause... from the entire plane. Has anyone ever seen that happen on a Qantas flight?

It's human nature to tune into something that's unusual or different and if there's anyone laughing, people naturally don't want to be left out of the joke - you can bet they'll focus in to hear what they're missing.

I would love to see someone actually do a study of this - randomly survey passengers both immeadiately after the briefings and also during flight (preferably near to the top of descent) to test the recall levels of key safety messages. My personal suspicion is that DJ passengers would generally have higher recall levels stemming from the higher level of engagement during the briefings.

Clearly, in my view, Virgin's is actually the more sensible, safer approach.

For an international airline which will be flying many non english speaking guests, long winded light hearted explanations that instead could be said in 5 words risks a misunderstanding or confusion in an emergency.

I don't think this is a fair assessment. The visuals make it pretty clear to understand the general messages - how to put the seatbelt on and remove it, that luggage is to be stowed and where, how to put on the life jacket, etc. etc. etc. and presumably they would carry whatever translated messages they are required to carry. It's also fairly obvious that what we are seeing here is the long version briefing and is not directly comparable to the abridged versions Qantas tends to use on domestic flights.

It's worth noting that this kind of approach is no longer purely the domain of the low cost carriers. Delta entered this game last year - obviously with their own style rather than the Virgin way, but inclusive of jokes and - let's face it - a bit of sexiness to capitvate at least some of the audience.

Delta Safety Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgpzUo_kbFY

Note that the dialogue presented is noticably faster and clearly more challenging to non-English speakers, but the visuals are much the same.

CNN Interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcYrtaHYtGU

See also... Delta's own spoof Falcons pre-game video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyUQWIuwzlk

[Michael Mak]

My cousin flew on V Australia on LAX-SYD very recently and he was very impressed with VA.

I specifically asked him what he thought of the safety video. He is a frequent flyer himself, flying from Canada to USA/Europe and Asia on a variety of airlines so he is very accustomed to the safety videos.

He said that this V Australia's video had his full attention the entire time it was played. When he flies, he like many other passengers ignores the safety announcement completely however with VA, he watched from the beginning to the end.

He likes its presentation - the animation, cartoon and the music. The video got his full attention, his parents and his friend. I didn't ask him if the credit was included but otherwise it is the same video as the one VA plays onboard.

I think this is a great video. It delivers the safety message in a way people would actually pay attention to.

I guess if we are listening something important being delivered in a monotone/boring way, we would be easily tuned out. But if the same message is being delivered with a little bit creativity, we will pay attention to it but still recognise its importance.

Michael

[Owen H]

Michael, I agree with you that the first time you watch it it will have more impact.

After you've seen it a few times, people will just tune out, like with all the other demos, and not bother to watch.